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Colby Rasmus
Colby Ryan Rasmus (born August 11, 1986 in Columbus, Georgia) is a center fielder in the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Little League career Rasmus played as pitcher and first baseman for Phenix City National Little League during the 1999 Little League World Series. Phenix City won the United States championship gamePhenix City Upsets Tom's River to Reach LLWS Finals, sportsillustrated.cnn.com; retrieved March 2008 before losing in the finals to Osaka, Japan 5-0.Osaka Wins Little League Title Game, nytimes.com; retrieved March 2008 Rasmus finished the World Series with a batting average of .417 and a pitching record of 0-1 with 7 strikeouts. High school career Rasmus attended Russell County High School in Seale, Alabama. As a senior, he batted .484 with 24 home runs with 66 RBI and 69 runs scored in 39 games. His 24 home runs passed Bo Jackson for second all-time in the state for home runs in a season by a high school player. In a pre-draft workout, Rasmus was clocked at 94 mph throwing from center field. He also ran 60 yards in 6.7 seconds. Rasmus helped lead Russell County to a national championship in 2005 as they finished the season ranked first in both the National High School Baseball Coaches Association poll and the USA TODAY Super 25 baseball rankings.2005 High School Team of the Year, baseballamerica.com; retrieved March 20082005 Final Baseball Super 25, usatoday.com; retrieved March 2008 Rasmus graduated from Russell County High School in 2005. Professional career Rasmus was drafted by the Cardinals with the 28th pick of the first round out of high school. The pick was sent to the Cardinals from the Boston Red Sox in compensation for the Red Sox signing Edgar Rentería in free agency. Rasmus received a $1,000,000 signing bonus from the Cardinals. Rasmus ended his 2006 season, his second in professional baseball, on the High-A Palm Beach Cardinals team. Between Low-A Quad Cities and High-A Palm Beach, he combined for a .288 average, 16 home runs, 26 doubles, 8 triples, and 28 stolen bases after getting off to a slow start in April. He played for Double-A Springfield Cardinals in 2007, batting .275/.381/.551 with 29 home runs 72 RBI and 18 stolen bases. His 29 home runs led the AA minor league. He won the Player-of-the-Month Award in August with his batting .365 and 12 home runs. The Tulsa Drillers (AA) manager, Stu Cole commented on Rasmus' high level of talent: "If there was a five-tool player in the league last year, Rasmus was the one. He brought everything to the table. And defensively he made more plays to save his team runs. If the ball was in the air there was a chance you were going to see something exciting.". He played in the Arizona Fall League during Winter of 2007 for Team USA. He batted .286 over the 6 games he played. Arizona Fall League 2007 - Colby Rasmus, mlb.com; retrieved March 2008 He was a non-roster invitee to the Cardinals in Spring Training, 2008 to try to claim a regular spot in the lineup after the Cardinals traded Jim Edmonds on December 15, making the rare jump from AA directly to the majors without having played a game at the AAA level. However, this likely won't happen as the organization has said they'd rather not rush his development. On March 17, 2008, the Cardinals assigned Rasmus to AAA Memphis Redbirds, but he may be called up mid-2008. Career statistics See also References External links *Colby Rasmus home page at colby-rasmus.com *Colby Rasmus page at stlcardinals.scout.com Category:1986 births Category:Minor league baseball players Category:Living people Category:Memphis Redbirds players Category:Springfield Cardinals players Category:Palm Beach Cardinals players Category:Swing of the Quad Cities players Category:Johnson City Cardinals players Category:Players